Assembly machines of the type herein disclosed are utilized in machining operations covering numerous type of work pieces, where it is the common practice to mount the work pieces on a pallet and to clamp and transfer the pallet over rails into successive work stations. With such machines it is required that there be employed at each station a means for accurately locating and firmly clamping the pallet in place. By synchronized action the pallets are released from their clamp station and transferred linearly over a track into a succeeding work station.
Prior assemblies have disclosed hydraulic, gears and spring arrangements for accomplishing the required transfer and clamping operation, all of which are costly, inefficient by reason by lack of uniformity and action, and require extensive and complicated drive mechanisms. These prior assemblies have included belted pallets which have been found to be mechanically cumbersome and inefficient. See for example the disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,636,783 and 3,968,869 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,260.